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Czech BooksHana Andronikova: mourning a powerful Czech literary voice
It seems very strange to be talking about the Czech writer Hana Andronikova
in the past tense. When she died of cancer on December 20th last year, she
was only 44, and until the last months of her life had been at the height
of her creative powers. Author of two successful novels, several plays and
numerous short stories, she was one of the most versatile younger Czech
writers, and will be hugely missed. David Vaughan looks at her life and
work. More
Czech BooksJan Novák: the man who lived Miloš Forman
When Jan Novák describes himself as Miloš Forman’s autobiographer, he
is not entirely joking. He really did co-write the most famous
Czech-American film director’s memoirs, and Forman himself has spoken of
the book as “my life as lived by Jan Novák”. But Jan Novák is a great
deal more than a biographer. More
ArtsCzech Catholic literature 1918-1945: from utopia to despair
Opposed, later persecuted – and finally forgotten. That was the fate of
many Czech Catholic writers, who stood outside the literary mainstream. In
one of Europe’s most atheist nations, the impact of these authors
gradually diminished throughout the 20th century although in their heyday,
in the interwar period, they managed to convey many original ideas and
intriguing artistic expressions. More
Czech BooksThe joys and sorrows of this year’s Magnesia Litera awards
Last month saw the Czech Republic’s glitziest annual literary event, the
presentation of the Magnesia Litera awards. The awards covered nine
different categories, including prose, poetry, children’s books and
translations, as well as the coveted title of Book of the Year, and the
ceremony was broadcast live on prime-time Czech TV. In Czech Books, David
Vaughan looks at some of the winners and talks to the person who first
thought up the awards. More
Czech HistoryThe world renowned writer and ‘folk hero’ Jaroslav Hašek
The Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek is best known today for his hilarious
anti-war novel The Good Soldier Švejk. Hašek’s own biography, however,
is perhaps just as farcical and action-packed as his most famous book. In
this edition of Czech History, we look at the life and times of this world
renowned author. More
ArtsMarkéta Baňková’s The Magpie in the Empire of Entropy
Last week saw the awarding of the annual Magnesia Litera awards for 2010
recognising excellence in Czech literature. The main award for book of the
year went to the Jan Balabán for Zeptej se táty, who died only a few
months after its completion at the age of just 49. Other winners included
Martin Ryšavý and Josef Hrubý in prose and poetry while the literary
discovery of the year went to artist and debuting author Markéta Baňková
for a beautiful little book called Straka v Říši Entropie. We look at
that debut in this week’s Arts. More
Czech BooksOlga Walló: a Bohemian tale
In Czech Books this week, David Vaughan meets the poet and novelist, Olga
Walló. In recent years she has become something of a literary phenomenon
in the Czech Republic, even though she was over fifty when her first novel
was published in 1998. Prior to that, she was better known as a translator
and dubbing director, a career which she describes as a form of “inner
emigration” from communism. Her novels are strongly autobiographical and
Václav Havel has described them as a way of “tracing the path which our
nation travelled not so long ago.” More
Czech BooksVěra Chase: death, strawberries and a dip in the Baltic
Věra Chase is one of the most original voices in contemporary Czech
writing. She has just finished putting together a collection of her poetry,
both new poems and old, some dating back 25 years, to when Věra was a
teenager during the dying days of communist Czechoslovakia. Her writing is
intensely physical, full of energy and irony, and over the years has lost
none of its freshness, or as one critic humorously puts it – stickiness.
David Vaughan looks at the collection and meets its author. More
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